An Iranian revolutionary court handed down a 15-year jail sentence Wednesday to the man alleged to have shot leading Iranian reformer Said Hajjarian, the official news agency IRNA reported.

The agency quoted the Justice Department as saying that Saeed Asgar who fired shotgun at Tehran city councilman Saeed Hajjarian and Abolqassem Shafiee were sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Apart from chemistry student Asghar, four defendants were sentenced to terms of between 10 and three years for their role in the attack on Hajarian, who was in a coma for several days after the shooting and barely escaped with his life.

The Justice Department said Mohsen Majidi, accomplice to the assailant in the assassination bid on Hajjarian and two other men, Shafiee and Kaveh were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Mohammad Ali Moqaddami, the second accomplice in the assassination attempt on Hajjarian received a seven-year prison term, it said.

Three other accused were acquitted, IRNA said.

Defense lawyers said their clients acted without any hostile intention toward the government and that they did not want to kill Hajjarian, but merely punish him, reported AFP.

Hajarian, a close ally of President Mohammad Khatami, was gunned down outside Tehran City Hall on March 12 by two men on a motorbike. Arrests followed swiftly and Azghar confessed to being the gunman in the initial hearing.

Reformists alleged that the trial was being rushed through and those really responsible for the attack were being allowed to escape.

"If other people are identified in the future, we will take all necessary legal measures," the trial judge said, cited by IRNA – (Several Sources)